Renegade Rising (The Renegade Series) (38 page)

“Cripes, I just had to ask . . .” Gisbo said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, but it was a tie again. Rake ended up getting the other one,” Kennis said.

“Really?” Gisbo asked.

“Oh yeah, the kid is obsessed with anything to do with improving himself. He's an absolute perfectionist. All the kid does is read and train,” Whip piped in.

“Well, why didn’t you just go to him for help?” Gisbo asked. Whip frowned.

“Um, have you talked to the kid? Besides, I got my own secret methods for studying, thank you very much!” Whip said.

“Point taken. Well, I’ve got to head into work for the day, but I’ll see you guys at our new class tomorrow! And we get to learn Ele . . .” Gisbo started. He stopped short for a moment, realizing the weight of what he was about to say. He, Gisbo Falcon, was going to learn Elekai' . . . tomorrow! Without a word, Gisbo rushed to work, trying to stop his insides from exploding with excitement.

Work flew by quickly, with thoughts of flying around on a brand new skeeting sword filling his mind. Still, Gisbo couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by the thought that Purah would not be his instructor and just who would take his place? Filling Purah's giant shoes would be no easy task, so it must be somebody good, but who? The long day over, thoughts turned to dreams as both Gisbo and Rolce found themselves falling asleep in spite of their anticipation, awaiting the next day.

The morning started in it’s usual fashion, with Gisbo falling out of his bunk yet again. He was reaching up to rub his head when he noticed the red ring on his finger.
I might be able to get this sucker to glow!
Gisbo thought. He giggled to himself in excitement as he shook the legs of Rolce’s bunk back and forth to wake him up, chanting “Elekaiiiii’,” and soon both boys were dressed and off to face a beautiful spring morning.

Lilacs were beginning to bloom all along the forest pathways, making their brief, splashy spring hello and the outrageous ripening crop of pollen gave Gisbo the gift of sneezes and a stuffy nose.
Good to see you, too, Spring!
Gisbo thought to himself as he put one finger to a nostril and blew a snot rocket, much to the disgust of Rolce.

Moordin told them to report once again to the Courtyard of Strength and that everything would be held outdoors, much to Gisbo’s delight. No more classrooms, as promised. When they arrived, Gisbo couldn’t help but smile, seeing the closed schoolhouse in the distance.
Never again, never again
, Gisbo thought. The boys had arrived a bit earlier than expected; only one synergy, made up of all females, was there before them. They had never gotten a chance to talk to these girls before, so Gisbo, out of dislike for awkward silence, figured now was a good time to do so.

“So, any of you know who the new instructor is?” Gisbo asked, as he stretched with a yawn. The girl who answered was the one Gisbo recognized as the Flarian girl he had stood in line with to get his ring when he punched out Rake. She was standing rather rigid in Nazarite attire with tightly braided red hair and a set of light brown eyes.

“Don’t know in the slightest and I don’t believe we’ve properly met. You’re the one who made Roarie scold me because of your lack of self-control. My name’s Glinda Bicknill,” she said without a smile as she thrust a hand forward. Gisbo took it rather reluctantly, with a pained look on his face, forcing a weak smile.

“Yeah, that tends to happen from time to time, um . . .” Gisbo paused, unable to think of anything else to say to her. “ . . . well, this is my synergy mate, Rolce!” Gisbo said, putting on a fake smile.

“Oh, the one who passed Perry’s test! My, how impressive of you!” Glinda said, clearly more interested this time around as she greeted Rolce with an actual smile.

“Well, I helped too!” Gisbo said.

“I’m sure you did,” Glinda said without looking at him. “Well, Rolce, these are my two friends. Meet Ashlin Nora,” Glinda motioned to a girl in Berserker attire with big blonde hair, a shapely figure, and a bright face.

“Hi there,” Ashlin said with a flirtatious tone and a wink to Rolce, who blushed.

“And this is Anakah Loorin,” Glinda finished, as she motioned to a cute girl dressed in Shininja attire with long dark brown hair and deep brown eyes to match. Gisbo was glad to see she didn’t wear a facemask and instead wielded a pretty grin. She gave a slight wave, saying “Hello” rather shyly, looking only at Gisbo as pink rose in her cheeks. Seeing this caused Gisbo to flush with color as well. Suddenly both sides couldn’t find anything else to say as the dreaded awkward silence entailed in spite of Gisbo's efforts to prevent it. Thank goodness Knob broke the silence by arriving on the scene with Granfield and Shaved by his side.

“Hey there, ladies! So Anakah, you decided where you want to go tonight for our date?” Knob said with a big stupid grin.

“Well I, um . . .” Anakah said in a nervous tone of voice, as if she wanted desperately to refuse him, but was too kind to do it in such a public way. Gisbo didn’t know where the feeling came from, but he really, really wanted to slam Knob to the floor. Why he felt so enraged by Knob asking out Anakah he didn’t even know. He had witnessed him do it countless other times to girls who laughed as they turned him down. A familiar feeling that he was about to do something stupid washed over him. Before he realized it, words were coming out of his mouth as his mind took a back seat. Gisbo hated when this happened.

“No, she hasn’t, because she’s going out with me tonight,” Gisbo said.
What?
Rolce’s expression said the same thing Gisbo was wondering. Gisbo felt the familiar twinge of déjà vu as countless memories of stupid things flashed through his mind. Knob put on a look of surprise as he took a quick step back.

“Whoa, sorry, bud! I had no idea you already claimed her. No worries, mate! Good for you! It's perfectly fine because I got two or three on the side anyhow, don’t even worry about it!” Knob said, as he punched Gisbo's shoulder, buddy-buddy like.

“We didn’t know YOU ‘claimed’ her either,” Glinda flashed back as she folded her arms and looked at Anakah. Gisbo met Anakah’s eyes for a moment as she looked back and did something that plowed away all his worries and anxiety. She smiled.

“Yup, it’s true,” Anakah said. If she was faking the grin, it was award-worthy, but Gisbo didn’t think so as she looked him right in the eyes.

“I thought you just met him here and now. Why didn’t you tell us you’ve been talking with him, Anah?” Glinda said, sounding a lot like a condescending parent. Anakah just shrugged.

“Well, I stopped by where he worked yesterday to return my rental snow skeets and he asked me out, out of nowhere,” Anakah said with another genuine-looking smile. Gisbo could have sworn she winked at him. “We were all sort of excited by today. I just never thought to tell you 'til now is all,” Anakah finished. Glinda looked satisfied for the moment, but she still eyed Gisbo and the grin stretching across his face. It looked even more stupid than Knob's.

“Well, he better not get you in trouble. That's all I got to say,” Glinda declared. Gisbo was so thankful for Anakah’s quick thinking and utter bravery. What a day this was, he was about to learn Elekai’ for the first time and now he was going out with a girl for the first time. Privately, Gisbo believed the latter task would be far more difficult.

By now everybody had arrived on schedule as they awaited the arrival of their new instructor, whoever it was. It was then Gisbo spied a familiar bald head glistening in the sunlight from afar.

Oh no . . .
Gisbo thought. Instructor Perry seemed to enjoy Gisbo’s shocked face as exclamations of dismay replayed in his head. Gisbo couldn’t help but gulp now.

“Hello again, gentleman and ladies. It seems you all will have the pleasure of going one more semester with me, what luck for you all,” Perry announced with his usual dry tone and slight grin. Gisbo hadn’t felt more nervous in his life. It was as if Perry was looking at him the entire time he spoke.

“It is unfortunate you will not be able to have Renegade Purah instructing you in the ways of Elekai’ for, I admit, he possessed quite a deep knowledge of the subject and what's more, he could express his knowledge to others brilliantly. You should know that I will still be following along with Purah’s original curriculum and will do my utmost to make sure his teachings will be made known throughout this class. On second thought, I wouldn’t really describe this as a class at all. The word ‘class’ makes you think of books, pen, desks and paper. Isn’t that right?” Perry asked, and this time he really was staring right at Gisbo. Needless to say, the entire class giggled.

“No, this is something much more involved and hands-on. Elekai’ is the art of taking all that you are internally and expressing it outwardly in any situation. It is equal parts inner strength, mental toughness and physical strength. Now is the time to put into practice what you have learned and get dirty. I will not come out and say that Elekai’ is a way of life; no, life is for living and you cannot live off Elekai’ alone. Elkai’ will, in turn, enrich your life, making it more beautiful and more enjoyable to yourselves and those around you. This art form is no laughing matter. It requires much responsibility for it is no child’s toy. You will learn passive abilities as well as dangerous ones. Always use caution. Always use discretion and let discipline be your guide,” Perry said, refusing to take his eyes off Gisbo to much of the class’ amusement.

“Let's recap, if you will, what you have accomplished up to this point. In Roarie’s class, you have learned to train your bodies and prepare the essence within you, keeping you strong: Body,” Perry said as he thrust a fist outward.

“You then attended my class, where you expanded upon your elementary education and learned the various philosophies, theories and origins of Elekai’ as well as life. You learned mathematical battle formations, politics and historical accounts. You cannot fight just for the sake of fighting. There needs to be a reason with everything: Mind,” Perry said as he raised two fingers to his forehead.

“Now, I am very thankful to be allowed to finalize the process. With the body and mind prepared, you are ready to find your heart; a true Elekai’ warrior finds strength from it and lives by it. Discovering Elekai’ is a spiritual journey as well as a physical one. You will learn proficiency in weapons, basic hand-to-hand combat and the importance of your classroom knowledge in battle situations. You will then learn to unleash your essence within those three areas effectively. By doing so, you will find out more about yourself, your talents and how you may use them to help others and discover your passions, which will in turn fuel your strength: Heart,” Perry said as he lowered his fingers and stamped a fist across his chest. The class nodded along silently.

“As I said before, this will be a personal journey for each of you to get a glimpse of your purpose before you set out with your class masters and Boons by your side. I am merely a guide for this journey; I take you to the gate, for in the end it is only you who must open it and choose the path most suited for you. Now, I hate to disappoint, but you will not be unleashing your essence today. You must show me your proficiency in the areas of combat and learn control before I dare thrust a weapon in your hand and tell you to ignite. Flarians: I can’t stress enough to mind your tempers. You will soon learn what an important role emotions play in the ways of Elekai’ and how dangerous you can be if not in total control. You must learn control!” Perry said. It was as if everybody in the class thought of Gisbo as eyes shifted his way once more. Gisbo cocked a perturbed grimace and growled.

“About time we got started. Gentlemen, ladies?” Perry finished. Gisbo hadn't even noticed the bags strewn across the grounds when he arrived. Perry made his way over, opened them, and strewed the contents across the grounds. When he was finished, he stood at ease once more and began speaking.

“As you can see behind me, I have set various weapons across the grounds. These are REAL weapons. Respect them and be careful. All of you today will practice with every one of these weapons to get a feel for them. I have also set up a variety of wooden dummies to practice on. I don’t want you to strain yourselves just yet: relax, let the weapon become an extension of self. Some will feel more comfortable then others; I want you to discover which one feels right in your hands. Just like your Boons, a weapon is also a reflection of self. You will know which one is for you the moment you try it, but keep this knowledge to yourself 'til the end. All right! Split up, one at a time, and go try out them out!” Perry said. The Renegas went about their tasks in silence, unable to hide the excitement stamped on their faces. Gisbo decided he would take his time, no rush, and went over to a dummy at the far right.

Leaning against the wooden dummy, that looked very much like a scarecrow carved out of a thick log, was a long whip-like weapon. Gisbo saw a name tag that read, “The Sorwhip.” The handle was long and metallic, sporting a thin yet sturdy whip about double the length of Gisbo's body with a small spiked ball at the end. He took a few steps back and decided to give it a crack.

“Hey, Whip! Guess what! There’s a whip!” Gisbo yelled over to his friend. Whip shook his head at the asinine comment.

“Oh hey! You’re a real funny guy . . . idiot,” Whip muttered as he trailed off.

Gisbo laughed to himself as he reared back for a test swing. He soon wished he hadn’t as the spiked ball rapidly slammed into his tailbone, sending a shutter through his body. Gisbo gave a yelp of pain and hoped nobody else noticed. Luckily, nobody did. Gisbo decided to be a little more careful with it, made sure the ball was well behind him, and thrust his arm straightforward. The ball struck the dummy right in the chest, dead center. This time somebody was watching; Perry, who nodded with a smile.